Donny the Punk is a nickname for Stephen Donaldson, founder of Stop Prisoner Rape, Inc. He is not to be confused with Stephen Donaldson, the author of fantasy novels.
Stephen Donaldson was born in the US, just in time to make him at the right age to be able to protest against the Vietnam War. And so he did, in a Quaker peace rally, until the peaceful demonstrators were arrested by the police. Most got out on $10 bail, but Donny refused to pay out of principle.
He was moved into a jail wing full of hardened criminals on orders from the warden. That night he was anally and orally raped dozens of times. He had injuries to his rectum so severe that he had to spend weeks in a hospital after the attack. This sort of treatment of anti-war protesters has not been acknowledged in the United States, and it is unknown how often it happened. Due to the stigma of being a male rape victim, perhaps even greater than a female rape victim, the crime was and continues to be extremely underreported.
He went on to have severe emotional problems, landing back in jail a couple times, but also taking a number of graduate school classes at Columbia University to study religion. During his subsequent incarcerations, he would 'hook up' with powerful male inmates to keep from being beaten and attacked again; although, he would have to have sex in exchange for this protection. This is where the word "Punk" in his name comes from. A jail house punk is the term used to refer to the inmates who trade sex for inclusion into a group that ensures their physical safety.
He went on to found "Stop Prisoner Rape, Inc.", an organization that helps prisoners deal with the psychological and physical trauma of rape, and works to prevent it happening. He was perhaps the first anti male-rape activist with any amount of public attention in the United States.
As Donny the Punk, he was also a respected writer and personality in the Punk rock and anti- racist skinhead movements.
He died in the 1990s from AIDS he contracted from his being raped.
